


Search and Rescue

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 04:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13380306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Eden gets injured trying to blackmail GED, and a certain Jorvik Ranger needs to use his search and rescue skills to rescue her. Eden belongs to sso-eden-dawnvalley on tumblr.





	Search and Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I took some artistic liberties with this one (forgot to open sticky notes and tried to remember the prompt) but here ya go, Zeal.

Eden felt her palms begin to sweat with anxiety as she got closer to the lake with Rania. The blind girl had confidence, almost too much, Eden thought, not even looking frightened as they passed the various bits of machinery and bright yellow warning signs. Then again, she guessed, it wasn’t like Rania could see the signs, and the machinery was all turned off. But even Eden could hear the pumps at the lake faintly from here.

“Halt!” one of the guards at the fence ordered, holding out a hand. Eden reeled back, Phoenix rearing slightly, but Rania only tilted her head to the side, as though listening to the birds. Or perhaps the way the wind moved the branches about.

“Sorry,” said Eden, stopping in front of the man. “We just came to look at the lake, I was wondering what’s wrong with it.”

“That’s highly classified information, young lady,” said the guard, standing with his back straight. “Not something that teenage girls should know about.” Eden bristled, debating whether or not she should list off everything that she’d done for Jorvik. It would probably be wasted on someone like him, though, she’d gathered by now that GED didn’t believe in magic.

“C’mon, Eden, let’s just go,” said Rania, riding up beside Eden silently. It still amazed Eden that someone with no sight could move so stealthily, but she guessed that Rania had had years to get used to it.

“Alright, then,” said Eden, turning her horse away and following Rania away from the lake and up another path. Once up there, Rania led Eden to a spot beside a tree and in some bushes, where they could evade detection by the guards.

“Now you know why we can’t just go up and ask to look at the lake,” said Rania. 

“Hey, it was worth a shot,” said Eden. “Maybe we could ask the Councilman for permission?”

“Not likely,” said Rania, shaking her head and frowning as she folded her arms in front of her chest. “The councilman in Silverglade has no authority here, and Councilman Skoll is… weird. He’s super cagey whenever anyone asks about these environment guys.”

“Hmm,” Eden hummed thoughtfully with a frown of her own. “That sounds fishy.”

“I know, right?” said Rania. “But that’s where you come in, Eden.” She grinned at her.

“M-me?” asked Eden, blinking in surprise. Why did she always have to be chosen for sticking her neck into danger, did she look dispensable or something? Or was she just that bad at saying no?

“Yep,” said Rania, nodding with a smile. Reaching into her pocket, Rania pulled out her mobile phone, pressing the button and sliding her thumb across the screen to unlock it. “Now, my photography skills aren’t exactly stellar, so I need you to take some photos and recordings of what’s going on down there.”

“Are you sure?” asked Eden, still frowning as she dismounted Phoenix and took the phone from the blind girl.

“Yeah, it’ll be easy,” said Rania. “Just hide in that bush and hit record. Quickly now, there’s a truck coming, I think it’s one of their bosses.”

Eden hid, the phone out and at the ready with her thumb over the record button, and hit it as soon as the man strolled out of the van. Her mouth fell open as she heard them talking about how they were draining the lake, and admitting that the water was perfectly clear and safe to drink.

“Those bastards!” Rania hissed. The two men snapped their heads around towards the sound, and Eden just barely managed to hide in the bush in time while Rania gave a very convincing birdcall. Her hands were shaking so much that the rest of the footage would surely cause motion sickness.

It didn’t help at all that Rania insisted on running after the van as it drove away. It was only by the grace of Phoenix being fast that Eden managed to chase the van at all. But, at the bus stop, Eden had to dismount again to record the conversation taking place between the goons and the driver of the other van. She bit her lip as she tried to still her shaking hands, but the footage was still as shaky as found footage.

And then the guards saw them. Eden took off on Phoenix again, but this time, one of the men jumped into the van and sped up behind them. Eden cried out as the van came perilously close to Phoenix’s legs, but her horse only whinnied and moved out of the way.

The race was a close one, and Rania barely managed to get out of the way by riding into town. The goons wouldn’t dare chase them through town. She gave a laugh of delight as she pulled up at her house, dismounting Dellingr.

“Ha ha, we did it, Eden! Eden?” said Rania, her grin fading as she looked around but couldn’t hear the other rider.

The second time the van tried to hit Phoenix, running him up against a tree, it didn’t miss. Eden screamed as she fell from her horse, grasping for his mane or his reins, something, anything to hold onto. But her poor steed fell back against the tree as the car moved away, and the goons descended. But Eden didn’t care. She was too busy staring at her precious horse, sobbing and moving her pink-glowing hands over his ruined leg, noticing that the bit that had dug into his mouth hard enough to draw blood. She removed the bit first, rubbing his mouth, and she couldn’t bear seeing the pain in his eye.

She didn’t fight when the guards came for her. When they picked up the phone and snapped it in half. But she did fight when they tried to pull her away from Phoenix.

“No! No, don’t take me from him, don’t!” she screamed through her tears. After everything she’d been through, all of their adventures together, being separated from him when he was in so much pain killed her.

“You’re coming with us,” said a guard, yanking her to her feet, and it was only then that Eden felt the pain from her broken ankle shoot up her leg. She cried out, stumbling forward.

“No! You have the evidence, just leave me alone!” Eden sobbed, still reaching for her horse. But they dragged her away, into the van, and Eden felt her heart tearing in half.

But then, from out of the woods, Eden heard the sound of hooves pounding over the forest floor, the huffing of a horse, the cry of a man to stop. And Eden looked up, tears still streaming down her face, physical pain mixed with emotional pain now, and saw a man that she’d last seen on his beautiful old Mustang mare up on Blueberry Hill.

“Hey! You can’t take her, she’s injured!” said Alonso, pulling Mardy to a stop in front of Phoenix. Seeing the injured horse, he dismounted. “This horse is injured too, but we have a vet here now so hopefully she can treat him. If not…”

“I can help him,” said Eden, still not taking her eyes from her horse. “I was, and then…”

“I’m going to have to ask you to step away, son,” said one of the men. Alonso straightened up.

“Under whose authority?” asked Alonso.

“Uhh, the authority of Global- wait, no, what’s the acronym…” The man’s voice trailed off, and Eden would have laughed if she wasn’t in so much pain.

“Well, by the authority of the Jorvik Rangers National Park, I can’t let you take her,” said Alonso. “And why were you taking her, anyway?”

“S-she was recording our conversations,” said the man.

“And do you have any proof?” asked Alonso, and Eden swore that she could see a smirk edging his lips.

“Well, er…” The man looked at the road, at both halves of the broken phone. He sighed. “…no.”

“Then you’ll let her go, or I could call the police about a kidnapping and injuring a horse,” said Alonso. Eden smiled, knowing that Alonso had won. The man growled.

“Fine,” said the man, looking as if he was chewing on a sour lemon. “Take the girl. Men, let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong, or Ms Drake will have our hides.”

As the van drove away, Eden collapsed into Alonso’s arms with a whimper.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’ll be okay now,” Alonso soothed, rubbing her back. Eden sniffed, feeling even more unsteady now that she had only one leg to stand on.

“No it won’t,” said Eden, blinking more tears down her cheeks. “They’re going to get away with it.”

“Away with what?” asked Alonso, frowning in confusion. “They can be charged for running down you and your horse, the injuries will serve as evidence.”

“No, not that,” said Eden, shaking her head. “The lake isn’t poisoned, there is no disease, they’re making it all up. And they destroyed the only evidence we have.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be able to catch them if there’s really something fishy going on,” said Alonso. “Now, come on, let’s get back to the ranger station so I can get my van and take you into Jorvik City. That ankle looks broken, and Dr Eiren is an ex-nurse but even she can’t mend a broken ankle with the limited supplies she has.”

“And what about Phoenix?” asked Eden, looking at her horse. She hadn’t managed to finish healing his leg, and he clearly couldn’t walk on it considering the fact that he was still lying down where he’d fallen.

“Dr Eiren can look after him,” said Alonso. “And we have some people here who are really good at healing horses. They managed to bring Dellingr back from the brink after that rock slide, and his injuries were life-threatening.”

“That makes me feel better,” said Eden. Alonso smiled at her.

“That’s good,” said Alonso. “Now, may I pick you up and put you on the back of my horse?”

“Sure,” said Eden, a smile brightening her face. She wiped away her tears, suddenly aware of how terrible she must look. “Do you happen to have a tissue?”

“Here,” said Alonso, smiling gently as he dug in the pocket of his shirt and withdrew a little travel pack of tissues. He turned away politely as Eden blew her nose and wiped the crusted snot from it, then she tucked the tissue into her pocket.

“Thanks,” said Eden, giving him a shaky smile. She gave a laugh as Alonso scooped her up into his arms, and blushed as she realised that their faces were only inches apart. But Alonso only set her down on Mardy’s back, and Eden had to make do with wrapping her arms around him. They rode to the Varanger house first, where Dr Eiren was busy examining a mistfox by scratching its belly.

“Dr Eiren, there’s been an accident,” said Alonso. Dr Eiren looked up at his serious tone.

“What’s happened?” asked Dr Eiren, standing up. The mistfoxes darted away from her, heading back down the road to Kit’s house.

“Those quarantine guys ran me and my horse down,” said Eden. Dr Eiren gasped.

“What for?” asked the vet. “Was it an accident?”

“No,” said Eden. Dr Eiren frowned, her face flushing red.

“I knew those guys were fishy,” said Dr Eiren. “Don’t worry, I’ll go and check on your horse. Lead me to him.”

“He’s down there, by the bus stop,” said Eden, pointing to where she could just barely make out the buckskin morgan lying against the tree.

“Hmm, I might need to borrow a van, or a trailer,” said Dr Eiren.

“You might want to also pay a visit to Kora, she has a little cottage up in the woods,” said Alonso. “She’s helped with a lot of horses in the past.”

“Yes, Sigry told me about how she helped heal Dellingr,” said Dr Eiren. “I’ll go and see her. And don’t worry, Eden, your horse should be fine.”

“No, he will be,” said Alonso. Eden smiled at how much faith Alonso had in this mystery woman. Maybe she was a druid.

Alonso rode back along the trail back to the ranger station, Eden still resting her head on his back. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she was still trembling but mostly she just felt weak and tired.

At the ranger station, Alonso dismounted Mardy and carried Eden into one of the cabins, where he set her down on the bed while he got out some ice for her ankle.

“This should help until we get to the hospital,” said Alonso.

“Thank you,” said Eden, smiling at him. Her cheeks were warm from his kindness, and his proximity.

“You’re not allergic to any painkillers, are you?” asked Alonso, glancing back at her as he opened a medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

“No,” said Eden, and gratefully swallowed the painkillers that Alonso set in her hand with a bottle of water. And it wasn’t the Go Water, either.

“Are you ready to go to the hospital now?” asked Alonso. “I know you probably need a while to calm down, but you should really get your ankle looked at before it gets any worse.”

“Almost,” said Eden. She gestured him closer. “I need to thank you first.”

“Oh,” said Alonso, blushing as he sat down on the bed. Eden gestured him closer, so he moved closer to her. And then, Eden leaned in and kissed him, his lips so warm and soft on her own. Alonso froze up, startled, but he returned the kiss, one arm going around Eden’s back. He pulled her closer to him, and Eden managed to suck in one breath before he kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around him, her fingers tangling in the short hairs on the back of his head.

They only stopped kissing when Eden moved her foot, which reminded her painfully that it was very much broken and in a great deal of pain.

“Dammit,” Eden muttered as Alonso pulled away from her with a start, rubbing his red face.

“Right, hospital,” said Alonso, standing up and stumbling around a little. “We need to- keys-“ As he searched for his keys, Eden giggled, touching her lips. That had been terrifying, but the outcome? Totally worth it.


End file.
